Wildfire burns more than 500 acres near Healdsburg, threatens vineyards

A wind-driven wildfire fueled by hot weather, high winds and dry brush broke out Sunday afternoon in the heart of one of Sonoma County's most iconic wine regions, forcing mandatory evacuations near Healdsburg.

The fire, dubbed the Point Fire, was first reported around 12:30 a.m. on Stewarts Point-Scaggs Springs Road near Marina Road. As of 6:30 p.m., the fire had consumed 550 acres as it raced down Bradford Mountain and was only 15 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.

Flames could be seen from West Dry Creek Road and Dry Creek Road and smoke could be seen as far south as Cotati and Penngrove, as the fire moved southeast from the southern edge of Lake Sonoma.

No injuries were reported. A number of structures were threatened, but it is unclear whether any were burned.

The first evacuation order, issued by the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, came at 3:02 p.m. It was later expanded to the entire 2E2 area, a hilly area northwest of Dry Creek Valley. As of Sunday evening, more than 400 people had been evacuated and 4,000 were under evacuation warning.

Throughout the afternoon, Cal Fire air tankers, helicopters and tactical aircraft battled the fire. Meanwhile, California Highway Patrol officers and sheriff's deputies were patrolling the area to enforce the evacuation order and encourage local residents to leave the area.

The region threatened by the Point Fire was last hit by wildfire in 2020, when the Walbridge Fire burned more than 55,000 acres and destroyed 293 structures. But the Walbridge Fire, which reached the edge of the Dry Creek Valley, did not burn as far north as the Point Fire.

Late in the afternoon, about 20 residents gathered on Yoakim Bridge Road, watching with concern as the smoke came from the fire. Some of them hoped for the best as the sky darkened to a familiar shade of orange.

Randy Rochester, 56, sat in his Ford pickup, focused on two trees that marked a spot near his home. He said he left the scene around 4:30 p.m. There were no flames but smoke filled the area.

Rochester said if the trees caught fire, he knew his home was in danger.

“If these trees fall, I lose everything,” he said.

Rochester said he's survived enough fires to pack a go-ahead bag. Once the evacuation order was issued, he said he waited about 30 minutes before leaving, as the sky filled with smoke.

He said he sympathized with the firefighters who were battling the fire and smoke.

“They can’t do anything there, it’s so smoky.” They can’t breathe,” he said.

Among those waiting on Yoakim Bridge Road was Andres Anton, 58, whose two homes along West Dry Creek Road were also at the southern end of the burned area, hidden by hills.

He said he spent two years building the homes, which were due to be completed this week. He described them as being two stories each with five bedrooms between them, worth $5.5 million, he said.

“It’s very, very difficult, it takes two years,” he said.

Yoakim Bridge Road is lined with vineyards. Trees in the area were bending irregularly from strong gusts of wind and smoke.

Just south of Yoakim Bridge Road, sheriff's deputies drove down wine roads blaring their sirens, ordering residents and motorists to leave the area.

Jason Clay, a Cal Fire spokesman, said the fire was driven by northwest winds and low relative humidity, which posed the greatest challenges.

As of 6 p.m., he said, structures were threatened but he did not know exactly how many.

He said the structures are north of Yoakim Bridge Road, along West Dry Creek Road and on the northeast side of Bradford Mountain.

“We’ve had a significant increase in resources,” Clay said. “So we continue to bring in resources.”

Clay added that weather permitting, crews would continue to deploy aerial vehicles into the evening, including using three helicopters.

Clay said the aerial devices included fixed-wing aircraft of various types that dropped fire retardants, as well as helicopters.

“We had both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft attacking it from the sky,” he said.

Clay said fire trucks, bulldozers and hand crews were battling the blaze from the ground. By late afternoon, ground crews and some air crews began providing defense for the structure, he said.

Just before 6 p.m., a group of fire trucks gathered along West Dry Creek Road, just north of Stang Road, and more engine fires could be seen in the thick smoke along the hill.

Sitting outside his home on West Dry Creek Road, Hector Leon said he had no plans to evacuate yet.

Leon said he planned to stay and see how the fire developed after dark, unless his boss, who also lived on the property, ordered him to leave.

“I think everything will be fine,” he said, despite the wind whipping the trees around his house.

Leon said he thought the head of the fire had already burned south of his home, along the ridgeline on the far west side of the valley.

The evacuation order covered homes and rural businesses, such as wineries, northwest of Healdsburg along West Dry Creek Road, north of Stang Road, according to a Nixle Alert issued by the sheriff's office of Sonoma County.

Steve Bressoud stood on West Dry Creek Road, at the bottom of his half-mile driveway, just before 5 p.m., and hoped two engine crews would save his home, which was threatened by flames.

Bressoud was attending a San Francisco Giants game for Father's Day when he learned of the fire. He went home to see what he could save and by the time he got home the fire was burning on both sides of his driveway.

Bressoud took his computers and his dog but a cat remained in the house. He ran out of time, he said.

“There were flames everywhere,” he said.

At vineyards and residential properties along West Dry Creek, south of the Yoakim Bridge, firefighters and some residents who did not evacuate rushed to protect properties in case wind blew the fire down the line ridge above.

Staff writers Colin Atagi, Amie Windsor, Andrew Graham and Madison Smalstig contributed to this report.

You can reach staff writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or [email protected]. On Twitter @pressreno.